Konoha : Another Love Story
by Anneistee
Summary: Natsu lost the man she loves in a war 5 years ago. Suddenly, he came back. Is he the same man she had always loved or just a total blind stranger who has the same smile with him? Warning OCXOC
1. Chapter 1

Summary : Natsu lost her most important man in a war five yearsago. Suddenly, he came back. But, is he the same man she had loved or just a total blind stranger who had the same smile with him?

Warning : The main characters are OCs.

Disclaimer : Not mine, except for the plot and the OCs.

**Konoha : Another Love Story**

By Anneistee

* * *

The sky was still dark as if understanding the sadness of the people of Konoha who had just lost their dear ones. The war with the Cloud Country, which lasted for two months, had ended three days ago and undeniably a lot of shinobis as well as kunoichis were killed. A lot. 

And this moment was supposed to be the moment that Natsu had been eagerly waiting since the last couple of months. Supposed to be, but not anymore as the death news of the love of her life replaced her hope to see him coming home with a satisfied sigh and his forever charming smile; supposedly.

He was always smiling, flashing his white teeth to anyone 'to make their day', he said once. He was liked by everyone. Elders, children, colleague... and she, of course. Sawamura Kyosuke, or Kyo, the way she had always called him, was a respectable shinobi as well as a man. Well, was. She had never thought in her twenty-two years of life that the word 'was' could bring such great pain in her heart.

Hundreds of people in black gathered today despite the drizzles.

In a black dress which she rarely wear, she stood in front of his portrait which was displayed along the others who were sacrificed in the war too. As usual, he was smiling in the portrait. Tears started to roll down her cheek. She was sad, heartbroken, depressed, angry. She was angry that fate was cruel, that fate was unfair. The moment she acknowledged his death, her world turned black. They said that his body was not found, or rather, only pieces of meat was left which can no longer being identified as his anymore. Few shinobis and kunoichis received the same fate.

There was another thing he left for her. His silver ring. His plain silver ring which was descended from his late mother. He joked once about proposing her with the ring.

It started to rain heavily. Her tears were no longer visible as it mixed with the rain, which soaked her within seconds.

_This is unfair. You left me, Kyo.

* * *

_

**5 years later...**

"Wake up, you sleepyhead!"

Natsu could feel the pillows hitting her body. She shifted a bit, but still sleeping.

"Come on! You are not going to spend the whole day in bed, are you? WAKE UP!"

Natsu jerked up as the loud voice went directly through her ears.

"Sakura, are you trying to break my eardrum!" Natsu whined while rubbing her ears furiously. Sakura, the pink haired young lady, seven years her junior to be exact, giggled cheerfully. They had been living together for almost a year until now.

"Oh, come on! You're always locked up like this! How long has it been since your last mission?" Sakura asked as she opened the window, her back facing her house mate. Natsu narrowed her eyes to adjust her eyes to the sudden bright light.

"...Yesterday... So please stop bugging me..." The older woman mumbled then plopped down onto her bed, again.

"What's with that attitude?" Sakura put her hands on her hip, acting as a nagging mother to her senior. Natsu blinked her eyes a few times, unable to sleep with Sakura's loud voices echoed in the room.

"Yesterday, right, a D ranked mission! With your students!" The pink haired girl cocked her head to the side and sighed.

"Stop nagging Sakura... Just tell me already..." The sleepy Natsu tried to clear her blur vision by rubbing her eye.

"Tsunade-sama summoned both of us. We should be present at her office this noon, so get ready!"

"Okay, okay!"

* * *

**Hokage's Office, 12:00 p.m**

"It's a B rank mission and will took a week, approximately," said the young looking Godaime as she nodded to Shizune, signalling her to hand the scrolls that included the details of the mission to the two pretty ladies.

"Your client will be waiting at the front gate by midnight. You both are dismissed. Good luck,"

"Yes, ma'am!"

* * *

"It feels good to travel sometimes," the talented pink haired medic said happily as she packed her things for the mission.

"I thought you're going to regret!" The older _**1**_summer girl said with a fake surprised tone as well as facial expressions.

"Why is that?" Sakura asked suspiciously.

"Aren't you going to miss your Sasuke-kun?"

Sakura turned pink slightly.

"Stop teasing me! I stopped chasing him years ago already! Mou!" the young blossom pouted only to be laughed at. Natsu just loves teasing her, she knew that she still have feelings for Sasuke though she said that it was just a normal crush that pre-teens usually experiencing.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" Though she said so, Natsu was still laughing, even when Sakura started to pinch her waist, hard.

* * *

**Konoha Front Gate, 11:55 a.m**

He's already there, Natsu thought as she saw two figures nearby the front gate. There was a tall man, probably taller than her and a smaller one that looked like a kid. And they both were... holding hands?

The kid turned behind, sensing Natsu and Sakura's arrival.

"They're here, oni-chan!" He shouted happily. The tall man with the shoulder length chestnut hair chuckled slightly. His back facing the two kunoichis. Natsu realised that he was holding a walking stick too. A blind man, she assumed.

Both Natsu and Sakura returned the little boy's warm smile. As soon as the tall man turned to face them, the tender smile on Natsu's face started to fade.

* * *

_**1**_Natsu means summer 

Hi! This is my first fic. Please excuse me for my poor grammar. Actually, I was thinking, how is life in Konoha? How about the life of another shinobi, not Kakashi or Naruto? An ordinay shinobi, who don't have enemies like Orochimaru or Itachi. So I tried to make an original character to view the life of shinobi as well as the life of the characters in NARUTO. Since both the male and the female lead are OCs, can this fic be considered as a fanfic? I hope it could. Usually people 'borrow' the characters and put them in a different world/story but I 'borrow' the background settings to put my characters in it!

Thanks to those who kindly spend their time to read my fic :p Reviewers are welcomed to point out my mistakes but please, be gentle. I am also intending not to make this fic too long. It may ended at chapter 5, hopefully. Also, please correct me if I rated the fic wrongly.


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

Chapter 2

* * *

"Let me guess, two pretty kunoichi have come to the rescue. Am I right?" asked the tall chestnut haired man without missing the opportunity to flash his charming grin. His eyes were not focused, obviously not functioning.

_What is this? Some kind of a joke?_

"Amazing! How can you tell?" Sakura asked in amusement. The handsome dark man just let out a little laugh.

"Now - "

"Now that's a secret!" the little boy suddenly cut in. "Trust me, one-chan, he will never tell! I've tried many ways, but he still keeps that little secret of his on his own. That is childish for a man his age!"

"Now, now… Don't you think you need to behave a little bit more, Kenta-chan?" smiling calmly, he reached and pulled Kenta's ear without any difficulty despite his disability.

Sakura can't help but let out a chuckle watching the scene. Kenta smiled sheepishly, but still cute nonetheless.

The same charming smile, same soothing voice, same sharp eyes, things I have longed for so long… 

"Please excuse him. This is Kenta. I'm Yukawa,"

Yukawa. Yukawa, huh? This must be a dream. There's no way - 

"Hey!" Sakura whispered and nudged.

"Er!" Natsu blinked a few times as Sakura snatched her attention from her reverie just now. Natsu looked at the man who was still holding out his hand towards her.

Yukawa frowned as his hand remained untouched. He almost put down his extended arm when Natsu suddenly snatched his hand and shook it loosely.

"Natsu, Kurosawa Natsuko," The waist length black haired woman stated firmly, trying to fight off her reddening cheeks.

Yukawa smiled tenderly before he turned his attention to Sakura who was introducing herself.

_No. This is not a dream. Of course not. It's just that he has the same face with him. My Kyosuke. Unbelievably same, only that this man standing before me has longer hair and darker skin._

"KUROSAWA NATSUKO SENPAI!"

"Yes?" Natsu turned towards her pink haired colleague.

"For the third time, senpai, shall we go now?"

A look of annoyance plastered all over her young face. She caught her - gazing at him - again.

Natsu went red again.

"O-ok…"

* * *

"The pirates have attacked many times before?" Sakura asked as she jumped lightly from branch to branch, led by Yukawa with Kenta clinging on his back. The shock of his abilities as a man with sight disability had gone just a little while ago. Smart Kenta acted as his eyes and read the map for him.

"Yeah. We experienced a great loss everytime they came. There are not enough men to protect the village because the youths usually leave the village to do business. For instance, I'm a regular trader at Konoha."

"The villagers had suffered enough. This time, I'll get rid of them for sure,"

Natsu could see the look of determined on his face.

"Oh yeah, Yukawa-san. Why are we moving at night?" Sakura asked.

"Its Kenta. His body is weak. Even the sunshine can be harmful to him. So, I traveled at night, but on fullmoon night only. I don't know what will happen if he is exposed to the sun, though. Maybe he will go crazy?" Yukawa chuckled slightly.

"NO WAY!" the eight-year-old boy blushed and pouted.

"But he is a good kid. Though he cannot go to school, he always helped me. Aren't you, Kenta-chan?"

Kenta stayed silent but his face gone even redder.

_To tease and to apologize again. That sounded much like…_

No.

Natsu closed her eyes for a moment and then let out a heavy sigh. She tried her best not to let the others hear her. Ever since, ever since she met this 'Yukawa', her mind went into a jumble. She can already accept him not as Kyosuke but as Yukawa but still, she can't keep her mind from getting lost. All she could do for now is, to pray that this week will pass quickly.

* * *

**Village Ryoushi, 11.30 p.m. **

From afar, red and orange streaks colouring the dark sky of Ryoushi Village can be clearly seen. Raging fire dominating the small fishermen's settlement. Tragic moans and cries mixed up with the sound of raging fire.

"Oh my god…" Sakura whispered unconsciously, taken aback looking at the disaster before her eyes.

"Damn! It's them again!" Yukawa gritted his teeth. Natsu saw his jaw tightening. She was frozenfor a while watching the polite man's reaction which looked more aggressive than she first met him.

"Kenta!" Yukawa spoke suddenly, almost yelling. Kenta nodded knowingly even there was no single word coming out from Yukawa's mouth. The little boy expertly mumbling directions into Yukawa's ear, the direction of their destination, the village chief's house.

* * *

The lavishly carved oriental house of the village chief shared the same fate with the other villager's houses. Outside of the luxurious house, there were several housemaids together with some villagers trying to put out the rapidly growing fire on the village chief's house. There was also a late teen girl sitting on the ground, holding a limp body of an old man who was in his fifties. The girl was cying looking at the barely breathing old man.

"Oni-chan!" cried the girl as soon as she saw Yukawa coming towards her.

"Kazuki, what happened to Yamazaki-sama?" Yukawa asked immediately.

"I told him… I told him before, but father was too stubborn! He tried to fight those pirates!" the girl explained within her sobs.

The old man put out one of his hands, reaching, grabbing Yukawa's cloth. The well-respected village chief coughed several times, trying desperately just to talk.

"They are too much… this time, they want to take away young women…" Said Yamazaki-sama, the village chief with anger clearly seen in his eyes. Once in a while, his clutching hand on his chest tightened as if holding the pain whenever he coughed.

Yukawa alertly moved his attention to the two kunoichi.

"They might still be at the harbour. Haruno-san, please take care of the chief!" He ordered sternly. Both his fists were tightly clenched.

"Hait!" The young medic-jounin answered almost immediately. It seemed like the village is short of medics. All the medics had gone for the children and women who were affected from the fire. There were lots of injured men from the fighting against the pirates too.

"Kurosawa-san, please lead me to the harbour!" The blind man asked again with full of determination.

* * *

The trip to the harbour was lead by Natsu along with orders from Yukawa. Natsu was no longer surprised with Yukawa's agility and ability. It was easy for him following the sound of Natsu's footsteps, as well as the cherry aroma she left behind.

Just as he thought, the pirates were still at the harbour. Some of them were trying to fight off the attack from the villagers and same of them were already prepared for an escape. But, their mothership was not seen, only small boats were used. Obviously, they just came to drop off a warning.

With Natsu's help to clear a way for him, Yukawa moved forward, eagerly looking for the invaders' captain or their representative. This time, Natsu could not avoid her surprise looking at how skilled this sight-disabled man with his way of handling a no mere toy; sword. Even if he was not blind, he can be considered as too good for normal people.

"You guys are too much!" He screamed with rage.

A series of metal clashing went on between Yukawa and a man his age who was taking the responsible as the representative of the small pirate group that came today.

"Where is your leader?" Yukawa asked demandingly. His brows knitted closely and his jaw looked hard.

The enemy just laughed cynically. "He don't have the time to come to this dull village today," He answered in a very carefree manner.

The swordplay between the two skilled men became more and more fast-paced. Yukawa's anger was burning like his beloved village. He quickly moved forward and launched an attack almost immediately, making the katana of his opponent flew far away from them. The adrenaline that was rushing through their veins started to slow down. Slowly, the man walked backwards, trying to keep some distance from the tip of Yukawa's katana at his throat. As he walked backwards, he got closer to the end of the jetty.

"Tell me his plans!" Yukawa demanded. As his sharp blade touched the pulse line that was visible at the neck of his enemy, his opponent's sly smile began to crept away from his annoying face.

"Tell me!" Yukawa threatened. His non-functional eyes were as sharp as his katana.

"We… will come again…" He answered very slowly, almost a mutter as if teasing Yukawa's eagerness.

"WHEN!"

"…On…"

Suddenly, a small smile, almost invisible, crept on the pirate's lips.

"YUKAWA-SAN!" Natsu suddenly yelled when she realized their plan. A few of small black bombs which looked like marbles were thrown towards Yukawa by the pirates who were on the boats. Natsu quickly broke the assault by throwing any shuriken and kunai she had at the black beads, deflected them away from him.

The man who was standing by the tip of Yukawa's threatening blade quickly took the chance to jump into the water and successfully escaped.

The little bombs Natsu deflected just now flew and exploded in the middle of the air above the water thus created craters about a yard in diameter on the surface of the water.

_Those are not ordinary bombs!_

She whispered to herself. Those bombs was full of compacted chakra. They can inflict outer and critical inner physical damage.

"Kurosawa-san!" Shouted Yukawa as he felt an incoming of those chakra bombs which was almost exploded nearby the female jounin. The pirates' boats were starting to sail away from the village but those damned pirates were still throwing the deadly chakra bombs towards the village; to be exact, Yukawa and Natsu. Those two were desperately trying to avoid the little bombs and hitting them with their weapons.

Yukawa quickly pulled Natsu's slim and slender figure into a tight embrace and used his body as a shield for her instead. Yukawa's left palm which was glowing with blue dense chakra then emitted a big amount of chakra to shield theirself from the explosion of the chakra bombs to avoid any injure for him and Natsu. Unfortunately, the collision of two uneven density chakra made the chakra which was emitted from Yukawa's left palm absorbed into his left arm along with the chakra from the exploded bomb by force.

Yukawa felt like screaming from the bottom of his lung when the muscles of his left arm felt as if they were twisted and torn from the chakra absorption but his voice stuck in his throat because of the great pain. The pain he felt made his whole body tremble until he finally fell on his knees at the jetty.

Though blurry, the cheers of joy from the fleeting pirates were heard.

"Yu… YUKAWA-SAN!

* * *

Oni-chan : older brother

One-chan : older sister

Ryoushi simply means fishermen, LOL!

Yay! Chapter 2, finished! It was pretty long. I started to wonder if this story going to be longer than I expected. Whenever I want to keep things simple, they'll become complicated eventually. Man, I always screw up like that!


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Knock! Knock! Knock! 

"Come in," Sakura answered without abandoning her medical works on Yukawa. The sliding door opened slowly and Natsu was behind it. She slowly came in and took a seat beside Sakura.

It was silence for a while.

"… Um…" Natsu awkwardly broke the silence. "How is it with Yukawa-san?" she asked, concerned.

"I'm fi-"

"Bad," Sakura quickly cut Yukawa's words. Her face, her voice, were cold and stern.

"Bad?" Natsu asked again worriedly.

"Haruno-san, please don't make Kurosawa-san worries,"

"But it IS bad. You can't possibly use your left hand for another couple of months!"

"… That's bad," Natsu muttered, almost whispering to her ownself.

"What is bad? Isn't it good that my hand will be recovered in the next two months? If it won't be recovered at all, then that's bad," Yukawa replied, gently opposing Sakura's words.

"But, I'm the one who caused all this mess. I'm supposed to protect you. That's my responsible, and you paid me for that," Natsu stared at the floor in embarrassment, trying to avoid any eye contact. She was embarrassed with her own carelessness.

"Kurosawa-san,"

Natsu brought her chin up.

"I paid you to protect this village and not me." He kept quiet for a moment. His face looked serious. "Besides, it would be a shame if a man cannot protect a woman," Yukawa smiled with full of confidence. That moment, all the guilts and regrets Natsu felt gone as if being washed away by waves.

_That smile, the only smile that can calm my soul._

"Oni-chan?" Kazuki suddenly appeared at the door with a tray of food.

"Kazuki, come in," Yukawa invited but the young girl stayed still, didn't move even an inch. Her face was gloomy and her eyes glistened with unspilled tears.

Sakura and Natsu looked at each other as if understanding each other's mind.

"That's all for tonight. I'll be here again tomorrow night to continue the treatment," Sakura suddenly spoke.

"We'll be going," Natsu added.

As soon as Natsu and Sakura passed the door of the room, the 19-year-old teenager quickly went to Yukawa and hugged him tightly.

"You are as stubborn as father!" She suddenly burst. Her tears wet her cheeks as well as Yukawa's shirt.

"Kazuki?" Yukawa asked gently while stroking the young girl's hair lovingly.

"You are… just like father… always makes me worry…"

Yukawa smiled gently though nobody was looking at him.

"Gomen…"

Hearing the conversation, Natsu covered her mouth with her palm and quickly but quietly walked away, unable to contain her feelings anymore.

If only that word of apology was directed to her, she would be willingly to let go all the despair she had been keeping since the day Kyosuke left her, and she no longer needed to lie to everyone by putting up a fake smile everyday. But, that was 'if only'.

* * *

"…_wake up…"_

_A voice. A female voice. It was blurry but somehow it sounded familiar._

"_Ky… wake up!…" A giggled was heard._

_He opened his eyes and smiled. A woman, long, black haired._

_Everything was blurry._

_He cannot see her face but her cheerful smile can be seen clearly. He put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him, her face at his nape and his chin on her head._

"…………" _There was another voice. A male one this time and not a single word can be understood from the mumbled, muffed voice._

_The woman giggled again and wriggled to free herself from his embrace._

"_You'r… so nau…ty!" She complained but the man there just laughed. She was finally freed from him and started to run away. She stuck her tongue mischievously._

_"C…tch me i.. y… can!" She ran away, leaving a familiar scent._

Darkness.

Yukawa sighed lightly.

Opening his eyes after he woke up or just let them stay closed made no difference. There was only darkness. But ironically, he could see colours in his dreams and his dreams were always…

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Come in," Yukawa answered weakly. He brought his palm to his head and wiped his face.

"You're awake?" Kazuki, the daughter of Yamazaki-sama, the village chief came in with a tray of breakfast.

"You don't have to bring me breakfast, Kazuki," Yukawa said in a very calm manner with a weak smile on his lips as soon as the fresh, faint smell of rice awakened his smelling sense.

"You should just rest today," Kazuki suggested while putting the tray on the tatami floor. She smiled cheerfully though it couldn't be seen by Yukawa.

"What rest? I can't sit here all day doing nothing," he protested like a spoiled little child.

Kazuki rolled her eyes and sighed.

"You are as stubborn as father!" She pouted, replying with another childish act.

"I knew, you've said that before," Yukawa grinned mischievously. He got up and started to to fold the futon he had been sleeping on with his right, fine hand. Kazuki immediately helped him putting the futon in a closet though she totally disagreed with his plan to not to take it easy for today.

"So Yamazaki-sama is fine now?"

"Better, but not fine, and stop calling him 'Yamazaki-sama', oni-chan. You are already a family to us," the young girl quickly answered. Yukawa just smiled and quietly chuckled to himself to not make the conversation went any longer. Somehow, he felt like he should keep some distance with the people here around him. They were not his real family anyway and they had been helping him a lot so he thought at least he could pay a little respect to them by not taking anything that was not his. Besides, he never, couldn't feel belonged to this place.

* * *

Things had started to cool down a bit. The villagers, especially the injured ones were all secured at the community centre nearby the village chief's house. The other villagers started to build up the village again right after the day the pirates attacked; including women and children, doing their best at the most they could help including making lunches for the men or just picking up rubbish to clear up the area. 

The two female jounin themselves had been restless since the past couple of days. Sakura being a medic attended the injured villagers along with the local medics while Natsu went around the village to help wherever she could.

"Kurosawa-san, its lunchtime!"

"Hait! Just a second!" Natsu cheerfully shouted to the motherly wife of Yamazaki-sama who cooked lunch for the men along with other women. After a while, she dropped anything she was holding and stopped her work. She headed towards the temporary tents built nearby the village chief's house and joined the other villagers who were having lunch there.

The sun was high and it shone brightly. Despite the village's condition, the villagers chatted happily during the break from the recovery works. Everyone looked energetic and happy making the village looked very harmony. Even Yamazaki-sama himself joined the villagers for lunch.

In a shadowy corner not far from the crowd, sat the ill but active Kenta-chan and Yukawa with a few toddlers and kids Kenta'' age. Yukawa had been taking care of the children since he was one of the injured. It was not like he wanted to sit and play with the kids but the villagers had refused him with the heavy works and asked him to rest instead. So, taking care of the children was the most he could do; at least it was much, much better than laying on the futon the whole day.

"It's okonomiyaki!" Kenta rose his little voice to almost a shriek.

"No, of course it's takoyaki," Yukawa replied confidently.

"Okonomiyaki tastes better!" The little boy pouted.

"Takoyaki tastes mmmmuch better!"

"Okonomiyaki!"

"Takoyaki! Hey, you! Takoyaki is way better than okonomiyaki, right?" Yukawa suddenly asked a woman who passed by.

"Who, me?" Natsu asked back in confusion. She looked at her surrounding to make sure she was not mistaken.

"Ne, one-chan! Okonomiyaki is more delicious than takoyaki, right?" Now it's Kenta's turn to pull Natsu into his side in a meaningless fight against Yukawa.

"W-Well… I like both…" Natsu answered in stutters, unsure whether to get involved in such childish debate.

"You can't like both, you have to choose! It's takoyaki, right? I knew it!" Yukawa suddenly decided though it was rather selfish.

"If I have to choose then, it's okonomiyaki since you can put many ingredients you like in it," Natsu answered casually. Kenta sneered cockily, or rather, excitedly at Yukawa. The other kids there watched with interests and started to wonder themselves, which one is better?

"How can you say that? Takoyaki is obviously better than okonomiyaki! Isn't it great how people turn those weird, wiggly ink squirters into such delicious octopus balls?" Yukawa objected.

"That's not a reason! Besides, you can put octopus in okonomiyaki too!" Natsu started to be influenced with Yukawa's childish remarks while the other kids who were watching started to take their favourite sides.

"But it won't tastes the same with takoyaki!"

"Oh, it's still delicious anyway!" Natsu sighed slightly, almost felt like surrendering.

"Oh yeah? Then let's armwrestle!" The good-looking man suddenly challenged her.

"What?"

"_What?" _

"_Come on, let's armwrestle!" Kyosuke eagerly put his elbow on the small, round dining table, waiting for his opponent to answer his challenge._

_"Then you'll win again!" Natsu pouted._

"_I know, that's why I like armwrestle!" He grinned, flashing his infamous charming smile._

"Come on, let's armwrestle!" The man who resembled to the man Natsu had always loved forwarded his challenge again. Natsu suddenly blinked her eyes a few times as if she just woke up from a dream. She looked away from Yukawa, suddenly felt the feeling when she lost her Kyo.

"That's… That's childish, I don't want to. I told you I like both," She answered weakly.

"You have to! You already picked okonomiyaki! Is it because I'm winning you started saying that you like both?" He grinned mischievously. The kids around the two adults jumped up and down and screamed excitedly.

A weird feeling started to invade the 27-year-old woman. Was it anger? Maybe, she thought. Why? Maybe because she felt like this 'Yukawa' was mocking her feelings. Or maybe because god was fooling her. She was not sure about that but she sure was irritated, hurt.

"Fine then! Let's get this over with!" Her voice rose, sharp and full of energy and determination. She was not excited to win this armwrestle but she was just… mad.

Eyes to eyes, hands clutched together. Yukawa's lips curved up into a cocky smile while Natsu's eyes flashed her burning rage. The kids around them cheered excitedly for each takoyaki and okonomiyaki's representative. Some of the villagers who were sitting nearby started to get attracted to the little commotion, smiling knowingly.

"Oh, look at that, Kazuki. Yukawa-kun is having an armwrestle match again," Yamazaki-sama mentioned it to his daughter. He laughed in amusement and seemed to be very interested.

"Oh, there he goes again! He is armwestling with a woman again! Always cheating like that, that sneaky-"

"Now, now, let's just take it easy and enjoy the show," the village chief cut his daughter's whining easily and brought his attention back to the two clutched hands.

"Oh, father," Kazuki sighed in defeat.

-

"Come on, one-chan! You can do it!" Kenta shouted with full of spirit.

Together, all the kids started the countdown. Natsu and Yukawa each adjusted their position slightly to make sure they were ready for their little match.

"START!" Shrieks from a bunch of kids bunched up, irritating each other's eardrums but failed to disturb the two-armwrestling adults' concentration.

The two clutching hands were still at the same spot but were shaking violently. Natsu could feel the powerful pressure that went against her. She did not want to lose, not this time. Heck, she never wanted to lose but the urge to win she felt this time was bigger than she ever felt.

"Hey, you're pretty good," Yukawa started to doubt his victory though he never admitted it, not out loud at least.

Natsu did not reply. She did not want to. She just wanted to win.

The commotion around them rose when the hands fell to the side a little, hinting Yukawa's victory. But Natsu quickly countered it. It was difficult, but she managed to neutralize their hands' position. The okonomiyaki supporters cheered loudly. Now, the time to bring down those takoyaki fanatics down had came.

With all her might, Natsu started to push his hand down to her side. Her hand felt sore but slowly, she started to smell okonomiyaki's victory.

"But…" Yukawa suddenly spoke. "I certainly…" he continued slowly, in ragged breaths. The hands were slowly being brought up again. Natsu's face twitched when she was struggling to bring their hands down again but the situation did not become any better.

"…IS BETTER!"

BAM!

Natsu's hand finally fell on the table, switching on loud cheers from the takoyaki side.

"Yeah, takoyaki won!" Yukawa childishly shouted. The kids on each side kept replying stuck tongue with death glares. Natsu sat still, her face plastered with the word 'huff'.

"That was unfair! You won against a girl! Besides, I told you I like both okonomiyaki and takoyaki!" Natsu suddenly stood.

"_That was unfair! You won against a girl! Besides, I told you I like both yakisoba and ramen!" The woman whined._

"_How can it be unfair? It was not like any of us had handicap and I told you already, you have to choose," _

"_Mou, you're such a bully!"_

_He ran away trying to avoid the woman's hit while laughing playfully. The woman first looked very angry but eventually, she laughed along with him. _

Natsu bent her knees to even her height with the kids'.

"Don't worry. I'll make you a nice okonomiyaki, for each of you, alright?" Natsu consoled the pouting kids on the okonomiyaki side. Though just a little bit, she still felt guilty for losing the armwrestle match just now.

All the kids went 'yay' and they suddenly looked as if they already forgot the event that just happened. Natsu smiled in relieve watching the kids, including Kenta, turned to their original, energetic self back.

"Yukawa ni-chan, I want to have takoyaki too," said one of the little kids while tugging the end of the older man's shirt.

Yukawa suddenly woke from his reverie. Just now, he thought he felt weird, as if something, a playback of a memory piece, a déjà vu, took over his mind. It happened too fast he almost couldn't catch what had happened. Was that… a memory from the past?

"Oni-chan! Oni-chan!" The kids started to jump up and down, trying to snatch his attention.

"Wha-What?"

"Treat us takoyaki!" They demanded rather pushily.

"All of you?" He asked unbelievingly.

"Of course! The okonomiyaki team can have okonomiyaki so we can have takoyaki too, right?"

Yukawa stayed silence. Now, now, let's go through this step by step. Let's see… First of all, how many pennies were left in that little pocket of his?

Natsu humphed looking at the pathetic sight while ushered the energetic kids back to their shelter. At least, she felt much, much less hurt than before. Maybe it was not that bad that he always reminded her of her Kyo.

* * *

**Takoyaki :** octopus ball  
**Okonomiyaki :** I've heard people call them japanese pizza. You can put many ingredients in it, depends on your taste and creativity.  
**Mou :** urm… you said this as a symbol of unsatisfaction. 

Woah! Yay! Chap 3, finished! I wish I can update weekly, I'm planning to do so but I can't promise especially when my "Most Important Exam In My 17 Years of Life" is coming soon in November. To those who reviewed, thank you sooooo much! Thank you to those who read my story too! I'll try to update diligently. Yup. And I personally never taste takoyaki nor okonomiyaki. But I wish I could. I talk… type too much.

I write too much that I hate typing.


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